Cadalyst - November/December 2008 - (Page 52)

aecinsight By Jerry Laiserin AEC Software by the Clock As time progresses, applications emerge, companies merge, and software gets better. T CAD Graphics Processing and Illustration Figure 1. The AEC software market is like a clock, with different product functions representing each hour. Adobe Systems www.adobe.com Arsitus http://arsitus.com Autodesk www.autodesk.com Axium www.axiumae.com to expand and enhance their product offerings for sustained corporate sales growth. This goal often results in mergers between companies that have adjacent or complementary applications or in the emergence of new companies offering previously unavailable mix-andmatch functionality. Bentley Systems www.bentley.com Syncopated Clock To understand how these trends produced the current market landscape for AEC software, envision a diagram like the face of a clock with distinct AEC business functions occupying the spots for each of the twelve hours (figure 1). Collectively, these software functions correspond to the principal business applications used by most design firms. Progression around the metaphorical clock also represents progression of information in a typical project lifecycle. At one o’clock is a time-and-expense program, because most design firms account for employee time as a primary BST Global www.bstglobal.com Deltek www.deltek.com Microsoft www.microsoft.com Nemetschek North America www.nemetschek.net Newforma www.newforma.com Orange Loft www.archiofﬁce.com PS Software Solutions www.psss.com project resource even if the firm does not bill by the hour. In the two o’clock position is a financial-management system (FMS), which is similar to a black box that turns time sheets into invoices and project reports. Three o’clock holds a program for managing project histories and costs. The four o’clock slot contains a contact-management program that records past, present, and future client data. Down at five o’clock, a business-development program helps combine project history data, contact information, and images of past and present projects to generate proposals. Some five o’clock images are photos of completed projects, and others come from CAD software at seven o’clock; various graphics processing and illustration software programs bridge the gap at six o’clock. Beyond CAD are specifications and building product information at eight o’clock, followed at nine o’clock by software for codes, standards, and contracts. Managing 52 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst November/December 2008 V VI VI I he technological history of software has been an inexorable march from lower-level functions operationally close to the underlying computer hardware toward higher functions that have become closer to human interaction. Viewed from a business perspective, the history of software development exhibits a similar march from generalpurpose tools for horizontal applications such as drafting, word processing, and bookkeeping/accounting to vertical-market, or industry-speciﬁc functions, such as architectural CAD, speciﬁcations writing, and integrated AEC job-cost and project management. At the same time, it is a business imperative for software companies True Project Management Resource-Based Scheduling Construction Project Information Management Codes, Standards and Contracts XII I XI Time and Expense Financial Management Project History and Cost Management III IX X V II III IIV Specifications and Building Product Information Contact Management Business Development http://www.adobe.com http://arsitus.com http://www.autodesk.com http://www.axiumae.com http://www.bentley.com http://www.bstglobal.com http://www.deltek.com http://www.microsoft.com http://www.nemetschek.net http://www.newforma.com http://www.archioffice.com http://www.psss.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - November 2008

Cadalyst - November 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 Cadalyst All-Star Awards 2008 SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software View Point: A Design with Teeth CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 MCAD Modeling: Ask for What You Want AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days

Cadalyst - November 2008

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